Stretching from Qinglong Mountain on the edge of Zhengzhou today to both sides is the Great Wall of Wei.
Building the Great Wall was very popular at that time. No matter Zhao, Wei, and Han in the Central Plains, or Qin, Qi, Yan, and Chu on the four sides, a large number of Great Walls were built. Some of these Great Walls built in the interior are simply defensive fortifications, and some also serve as flood control. According to research by modern scholars, the Wei Great Wall runs diagonally through the southeast of Zhengzhou from Yuanyang to Xinmi, with a total length of more than 100 kilometers. But what can be seen today is only a short section of Qinglong Mountain that is tens of meters long.
Within the Great Wall of Wei is the famous semi-artificial reservoir Puze. There used to be a natural lake in Puze, which was locally called "Sou". Judging from the name, the lake should not be deep and covered with aquatic plants. When King Hui of Liang established Daliang as his capital, he diverted water from the Yellow River into this lake. The area of the lake was greatly expanded and the amount of water was abundant. It not only irrigated the most abundant grain fields around Daliang, the nursery fields, but also diverted water for dozens of miles, irrigating the surrounding dry fields. You can also benefit from it, and in some places you can even go boating. However, the nature of the Yellow River to fill up all low-lying land means that today the reservoir and its diversion canal are completely invisible, and Putian has become a township in Zhengzhou.
It is about thirty miles from Putian to Xizhong. In ancient times, this was a normal day's march. As a soldier, Zheng Anping has the ability to run a hundred miles in half a day, which is roughly equivalent to the distance of a marathon. However, marathons cannot be run several times a day, as it will be fatal. He ran thirty miles in the morning and more than ten miles in the afternoon. He didn't rest the rest of the time. He either walked or took a car. His back was sore and his legs were weak, and he didn't even have a good meal. When he arrived at the post house and just closed his eyes, he was promoted to Bi Yi shouted with a loud voice and was asked to rush to the entrance of the Great Wall immediately to prepare to meet General Mangmao.
The leader was not Jin Bi, but a strong man who came to the post house with him. Although this man was dressed as a warrior, he was full of etiquette and was obviously from a noble family. He introduced himself as Mangshi Shen, the son of General Mangmao. Everyone in the Wei State knows that Mang Mao was poor in his early years. After his brother died, he married his sister-in-law and gave birth to three sons. After his sister-in-law died, Mang Mao also became a public minister in the Wei State, married another family, and gave birth to another son. Two men and two women. This new daughter-in-law was so virtuous that "The Biography of Women" took her as a role model. There was a special article introducing her advanced deeds, describing how she treated her ex-wife's son as if she were her own. She also endured the humiliation and burden when his ex-wife's son offended her, and finally won the favor of the whole family. of respect. But this Mang Shen, I don't know which son he is, or whether he is the one who is causing trouble for his stepmother.
Mang Shen's marching walk was unambiguous. He led these five people and headed towards the entrance of the Great Wall under the moonlight overnight. After going around to the west of the city and following a river to the west, they crossed a stone bridge again. After crossing the bridge, there was a large lake in front of us. I didn't know how wide it was under the moonlight. Under the leadership of Mang Shen, everyone meandered westward along the dirt road beside the lake. Zheng Anping was very sleepy at first, so he forced himself to follow. But as he walked, his sleepiness passed and his energy improved.
Zheng Anping found that the surrounding scenery was obviously different from the endless land he was familiar with - here was a square waterpi. "Is this going to raise fish?" Zheng Anping thought to himself.
"This is King Wei's rice field." Mang Shen introduced as if he understood Zheng Anping's thoughts.
"There are hundreds of miles of water around here, and the rice harvested every year is only for the palace." Mang Shen further explained.
"There are no streets anymore. We can only walk along the main road. When we sent troops to pass here, it took a lot of effort. Cars could only pass one by one. It took three days just to pass the cars. We couldn't walk at night."
"This is Wang Tian. If you step on the ridge, you will be punished. Be careful!" Mang Shen reminded.
The sky gradually becomes brighter. The air in the early morning is fresh, and the surrounding paddy fields make it even more humid and soft. Walking on such a field ridge, one feels relaxed physically and mentally, and can hardly feel any smell of war.
Suddenly, a voice shouted: "Who is it? It's banned!"
Mang Shen took out a copper tube, held it over his head and said, "Military envoy!"
The sound came from a pavilion a hundred steps away.
"One person comes here first!" said the voice.
The so-called ten miles and one pavilion. The pavilion was built beside the road and served as both a security post and a reception station. By selling some tea and snacks, the people guarding the pavilion can also live a good life. During wartime, this place naturally undertakes various military tasks and is an important tactical stronghold. This pavilion is not big or very high. It is just beside the road and is very inconspicuous.
Mang Shen walked over holding the copper festival. The pavilion guard came down, inspected and handed it back for release. Mang Shen waved his hand and asked everyone to follow. When Zheng Anping walked through the pavilion, he saw that the parapet was built with wooden planks, and there were obviously many crossbows inside. A disagreement can instantly turn people into honeycombs. There are two broken cars in front of the pavilion, which can be pushed onto the road in an emergency to block traffic and slow down the enemy's advance.
Winding along the road, there is another stone bridge in front of you. Different from the previous stone bridges, this stone bridge is guarded by soldiers on both sides. There is a large courtyard behind the stone bridge. Although the wall is not as high as the city wall, it has parapets and arrow towers. It is obviously a fortress.
Before Mang Shen arrived, he had already taken out the copper festival and shouted loudly: "The military envoys are leaving the city! The military envoys are leaving the city!..."
A military officer walked over from the other side of the bridge, met Mang Shen in front of the bridge, took the copper festival, and asked: "Which one?"
Mang Shen replied: "Mang Shen, the envoy of the messenger army under General Mang Mao, entered the city early yesterday morning! Now he is taking five of his companions out of the city to give orders!"
The military officer said: "Brother, wait a moment!" He took the copper festival across the bridge and entered the castle. After a while, he came out with half a bronze talisman in his hand, which looked like a dog. He handed the bronze talisman and the copper festival to Mang Shen and said, "Brother, please come!"
Mang Shen thanked them and asked the five of them to cross the bridge together. At the other end of the castle, they crossed a heavily guarded stone bridge again and saw an open space in front of them. At the end of the open space is a long city wall, which is the so-called Great Wall of Wei.
There are multiple entrances to the Great Wall. The nearest one is directly opposite the stone bridge and can be seen clearly. There were sergeants coming and going in the city, and there was a bit of a war atmosphere. The city gate is closed, and there are soldiers on duty on the gate tower. Mang Shen raised the bronze festival again and shouted from a distance: "The military envoys are leaving the city! The military envoys are leaving the city!..." A military officer came down from the city gate tower. When Mang Shen arrived, he inspected the copper festivals and bronze talismans. He said to Mang Shen: "You could already see the dust from the watchtower just now. The army is already thirty miles away from here. The city gate cannot be opened. We can only let the brothers down from the city!"
Zheng Anping didn't come back to his senses for a while. Mang Shen replied: "Thank you, brother!" He turned around and said to the five people: "Go to the city!"
The five of them followed Mang Shen to the city, and under the leadership of Mang Shen, they reassembled their weapons, crowns, armor, and boots. Someone had already brought over a thick leather belt and looped one end into two rings. Mang Shen put his legs into the ring, and his robe was lifted up to the heels of his thighs. He had already had infinite spring. He didn't care, he held the halberd in his hand and climbed up the city wall. Several soldiers tightened their belts, and Mang Shen stepped on the wall with his feet. After a few ups and downs, he reached the ground. Mang Shen pulled his legs out of the holster, and the belt was pulled up to the wall. Zheng Anping also put his legs into the belt loop in turn, not caring about exposing his private parts, and climbed up the wall. Looking down, I saw that Mang Shen who had just stepped down was only the size of an ant, and I couldn't help but feel frightened. But when the time came, he couldn't afford to hesitate, so he had to hold on to the halberd with one hand and the belt with the other, and jumped down with his eyes closed. With a "chi" sound, his butt and back rubbed violently against the city wall. The pain made him almost faint. He instinctively touched the city wall with his foot, and he started spinning in the air. Fortunately, there is the city gate below and it does not go all the way. Before he woke up, he had already fallen to the ground, and with a "dong" sound, he sat on the ground. Mang Shen shouted quickly: "Take off the leather sheath quickly!" He ran over and pulled the leather sheath off Zheng Anping's legs. Before it was completely separated from his legs, the belt was pulled up again. If it had been a little later, Zheng Anping would probably be hung upside down and pulled up again.
The few people who came down next were not as skilled as Mang Shen. They were all like Zheng Anping, with bloody marks on their buttocks, and some even had their faces, hands, and knees bruised.
Mang Shen said: "We can't stay here. Let's go to the bushes in front to shoot."
